Kudumbashree Project - An Overview -...

Chapter 3 Kudumbashree Project - An Overview

Kudumbashree is an innovative initiative towards engendering

development in Kerala and is formed with a view to help the poverty-stricken

people to take initiative for a practical solution to poverty1. It is a multi-sectoral

poverty alleviation programme initiated by the Government of Kerala in 1998 to

eradicate absolute poverty from the State within a period of ten years by

empowering women through collective action2. It is a community initiative using

women’s agency with legal backing, implemented as part of Panchayati Raj

System3 . Kudumbashree literally means prosperity of the family4. The Government

of Kerala launched the programme with the active support of the Government of

India and the National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD)

and it is being implemented by the State Poverty Eradication Mission of the

Government of Kerala since 1999 under the leadership of Local Self Governments,

formed and empowered in 1992 by the 73rd and 74th constitutional amendments5. It

is a participatory, women oriented poverty reduction programme, which is being

implemented in Kerala with the specific objective of wiping out all the visible

manifestations of absolute poverty from the State by AD 2008 and the strategy

slogan of the Mission is ‘reaching families through women and reaching the

community through families’6. It also aims at women empowerment, increase in

income of women, fellowship, upliftment of women and children, planned social

development, self reliance, decentralization of power, attaining a proper system of

organizing the poor etc7.

Kudumbashree is a novel scheme of poverty alleviation based on micro-

credit and Self-Help Groups and it aims at improving the living levels of the poor

women in rural and urban areas. Organisation through neighbourhood groups,

participation of Local Self Government Institutions, integration of poverty

alleviation programmes, possibilities of coordination between Regional planning

and Grama Sabhas etc. distinguish Kudumbashree from other Self-Help Groups in

India8. It has, in fact, adopted a strategy of women empowerment for poverty

eradication. It claims to overcome the limitations of all the schemes implemented

by the government so far in bringing gender equality and empowerment of

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women9. Under the project, the poor themselves design and implement

development initiatives required for them. It is an organizational innovation

overcoming the barriers of government beaurocracy to reach the benefits of various

government programmes and resources to the poor and is a multisectoral women

centered participatory poverty eradication movement which aims at the economic

empowerment of the poor through development and nurture of thrift and credit

societies and micro enterprises and also social and political empowerment of socio

economic disadvantaged section of the society by acting as a collective social

action domain and by creating avenues for the political participation10.The project

aims at the all-round development of the people below poverty line11. The Mission

Statement of the project is “To eradicate absolute poverty in ten years through

concerted community action under the leadership of Local Self Governments, by

facilitating organisation of the poor for combining self-help with demand led

convergence of available services and resources to tackle the multiple dimensions

and manifestations of poverty holistically”12.

The Kudumbashree was registered in 1998 as the State Poverty Eradication

Mission under the Travancore-Cochin Literary, Scientific and Charitable Societies

Act13. It is a successful Government Oriented Non-governmental Organization

(GONGO) and gives prime importance for the economic empowerment of the

poor, especially the women, in Kerala14. This multifaceted women-based

participatory poverty eradication programme is implemented through the three-tier

Community Based Organisations (CBOs) of poor women in co-operation with

Panachayat Raj Institutions (PRIs) 15. Women empowerment through economic

empowerment that facilitates poverty eradication is the core of Kudumbashree.

However Kudumbashree views women empowerment as a means to an end; not an

end in itself. The Kudumbashree programme of Kerala is a globally acknowledged

model of poverty eradication and women empowerment at grass root level with the

gender, environment and democratic process components intersecting with each

other successfully16. The programme is built on the facilitation and volunteer work

of:

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(a) Kudumbashree officials and

(b) Volunteers working at NHG, ADS and CDS levels along with the support of

local governmental officials17.

Kudumbashree is a strong organization in terms of participation and it can be

viewed as a social security scheme which incorporates both the protective and

promotional elements of the conventional social security schemes. However its

scope and reach is far wider than any conventional social security schemes

currently underway in the State. It is a unique programme through which Kerala is

witnessing a silent revolution, spawning women power, possibly restoring to the

state its lost matriarchal legacy, where the women enjoyed pre-eminence, safety,

security and respect, including self-respect. The important aspects which made the

Kudumbashree and its structure a unique programme are: (i) Contrary to most

welfare or social security schemes, in principle, the decision making authority rests

with the elected representatives, who are poor women themselves rather than

bureaucrats or politicians (ii) It has a dual advantage, which no other existing

welfare programmes can boast of: a functional dynamism which is found among

the non-governmental organization as well as stronger interaction with, and

backing from, local self-governments and thereby gaining a legitimacy and

(iii) Besides carrying out its activities to address the risk factors, it also conducts

regularly a range of programmes with specific objectives, such as awareness and

educational programmes as female empowerment, and entrepreneurship

programmes.

Historical Background and Evolution

The ‘Kudumbashree’ programme for poverty eradication is the perfected

form of the accomplished social programmes rendered during the 7th and 8th Five

Year Plans for the development of slums in urban areas such as Urban Basic

Services, Urban Basic Services for the Poor and Urban Poverty Alleviation18.

These programmes were successfully fulfilled in the selected areas through the

three-tier organizational structure of the poor women of Alappuzha town and

Malappuram district.

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Alappuzha Model: In 1992 seven wards in Alappuzha town were selected for

implementing the UNICEF assisted Community Based Nutrition Programme

(CBNP)and the Urban Basic Service Programme(UBSP). In implementing these

two schemes, 2003 poor families were identified from the selected wards through a

transparent process using the nine non-economic criteria19 viz. 1) Kutcha house 2)

No access to safe drinking water 3) No access to sanitary latrine 4) Illiterate adult

member in the family 5) Family having not more than one earning member 6)

Family getting barely two meals a day or less 7) Presence of children below the

age of five in the family 8) Alcoholic or drug addict in the family and 9) Scheduled

caste or Scheduled tribe family. If any four or more of the above risks factors are

positive in a family, such a family is treated as a “risk family”. Incorporating one

adult woman each from the families so identified formed subsequently 88

Neighbourhood Groups, each having a total of 15-40 members. As the next phase,

unifying the NHGs, seven ward wise Area Development Societies were formed. In

February 1993, the apex council of this community based women organisations

called Alappuzha Community Development Society got registered under the

Charitable Societies Act.

The CDS, formed on an experimental basis, promptly convinced to be a

strong movement for unifying and executing the various poverty eradication

activities effectively, resulting in the extension of its activities to 29 additional

wards of Alappuzha town. The community based poverty eradication movement

attained a new dimension on getting re-finance of Rs. 40 Lakhs from NABARD

for various income generating activities commenced under it. The Alappuzha CDS

came to be known as the best model to be followed throughout the world for the

poverty eradication activities and it gained international recognition by receiving

“We the People Award” in 1995.

Malappuram Model: Following the success of the participatory system of poverty

alleviation in Alleppy municipality, a Community Based Nutrition Programme and

Poverty Alleviation Project (CBNP&PAP) with assistance of UNICEF was

initiated in the entire area of Malappuram district on 11th November 1994. The

major objective of the programme was to reach out to the unreached and the

strategy adopted for the purpose was convergent community action together with

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the Government to fulfil their basic needs such as drinking water, primary health

care, basic education, safe environment and food security. As in Alappuzha Model,

it was implemented through community development societies of women, who

belonged to high-risk families. The risk index adopted in Alappuzha Model was

however slightly modified to suit the regional peculiarities of Malappuram District.

The modified risk indicators were20: 1) Families with sub standard houses and huts

2) Families with no sanitary latrine 3) Families having no safe drinking water

supply within at least 300 meters.4) Families having more than six members 5)

Families with only one earning member 6) Families belonging to SC/ST 7)

Families having illiterate members 8) Families having only two meals or less a day

9) Families having alcoholics, widows and divorcees. Commonwealth Association

for Public Administration and Management (CAPAM) acknowledged Malappuram

experiment for its best practices in service to the public with Gold Medal Award

from among 119 entries in 2000.

Spread of the CDS system in Urban Areas

The success of Urban Based Services (UBS)/ Urban Basic Services for the

Poor (UBSP) in Alappuzha town and Malappuram district persuaded the State

Government to extend the project to all the Urban Local Bodies of Kerala. On 26th

December 1994, the State Government issued a special order to extend UBSP style

of activities to all the Urban Local Bodies (ULBs) and directed them to set up

Urban Poverty Alleviation Cells to implement poverty alleviation programmes

with community participation as done in Alappuzha and Malappuram. Through

this act, the Community Development Society System was practically

implemented in all Urban Local Bodies of the state and the State government

recognized the CDS as a legitimate body of poor women, empowered to implement

poverty eradication programmes and mobilize resources, including loans from

financial institutions and other agencies. A special Urban Poverty Alleviation Cell

(UPA Cell) at the State level was also set up to coordinate and strengthen the

women oriented participatory approach for community development and poverty

eradication. The working of the UPA Cell attracted global attention and

international recognition. On 5th October 1998 (World Habitat Day) UNCHS

recognized the CDS system of Kerala implemented by the UPA Cell as one of the

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best practices of the world. In a span of two years from the inauguration of the

CDS system in Alappuzha in February 1993, it has been extended to the entire

municipal towns of the State, besides the panchayat areas of the Malappuram

district.

Emergence of Kudumbashree Project in the State of Kerala

Enthused by the phenomenal success of the Alappuzha and Malappuram

models of participatory development with the active involvement of the

stakeholders, the Government of Kerala resolved to extend the participatory

women based programme to the entire state of Kerala in 1998 under the name

‘Kudumbashree’. It was based on a master plan prepared jointly by State UPA

Cell, Kerala State Planning Board and Thiruvananthapuram Regional Office of

NABARD21. At the inception, the activities of Kudumbashree were confined to the

urban areas and urban and rural areas of Malappuram district where the anti-

poverty programmes have been attempted through community based structures as

envisaged in Kudumbashree. Gradually its activities were extended to the entire

rural areas in a phased manner and at first during June 2000, 262 Grama

panchayats were brought under Kudumbashree Project. Subsequently during

November 2001, 338 Grama Panchayats and in March 2002 the remaining 291

Grama Panchayats were covered under Kudumbashree. The districtwise number of

panchayats brought under Kudumbashree at different phases is given in Table 3.1.

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Table 3.1 : District- wise number of panchayats brought under

Kudumbashree at different phases

Sl. No.

District

No. of Panchayats

Total Prior to Phase-I

Phase-I Phase-II Phase-III

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14

Thiruvananthapuram Kollam Pathanamthitta Alappuzha Kottayam Idukki Ernakulam Thrissur Palakkad Malappuram Kozhikkode Wayanad Kannur Kasargode

- - - - - - - - - 100 - - - -

20 13 7 15 13 15 22 60 15 - 27 7 41 7

28 29 23 30 28 24 36 16 24 - 30 18 20 32

30 27 24 28 33 12 30 16 51 - 20 - 20 -

78 29 54 73 74 51 88 92 90 100 77 25 81 39

Total 100 262 338 291 991 Source: Compiled and computed from the publications of Kerala State poverty Eradication

Mission, Thiruvananthapuram.

Key Features of the Kudumbashree Project22

1. The programme covers every family below the poverty line.

2. A woman, a paradigm shift from the a priori male-centric model of poverty

alleviation programmes, represents each family. Women have imparted a

new dimension to the project in terms of feedback on poverty indicators,

sensitivity to problems of the poor, commitment to poverty alleviation, and

special attention to gender concerns.

3. The whole system is democratic and encourages full participation through

periodic discussions and rotation of volunteers every two years.

4. The volunteers have ample opportunity to hone their leadership qualities

through regular capacity building initiatives.

5. The democratic hierarchy of the organisation facilitates interventions at

different stages of the local development planning process.

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6. The representative character of the organisation enables it to be a powerful

interest group representing 30-35 per cent of the population.

7. Since discussions are taken based on analysis of the field situation and

through the medium of regular discussions, the plans represent the felt

needs and priorities of the community.

8. The hierarchical organisation with the higher levels ‘nesting the

representatives of the lower level’ affords good channels for quick and

effective communication.

The Vision of Kudumbashree

The principal aim of the Kudumbashree programme, mentioned in its

Mission Statement is ‘ to eradicate absolute poverty in ten years’23. Poverty as

recognized by Kudumbashree went beyond lack of income and have multi-

dimensional characteristics and causes. According to the Kudumbashree mission;

poverty is not merely a financial scarcity but it also concerns lack of a proper

house, lack of fresh water, insufficient hygiene facilities, lack of nutritional food,

insufficient educational facilities, lack of opportunities for expressing the opinions,

insufficient medical facilities, problems of unemployment etc. Hence, in order to

get the above- mentioned problems solved, effective and many-sided activities

have to be conducted by Kudumbashree. Women empowerment through micro

finance, micro enterprise and convergent community action is the core activity of

Kudumbashree, which is an organization of women from below the poverty line.

Kudumbashree CBOs converges the schemes, ideas, concepts and resources of

various governmental and non-governmental agencies and line departments

working in poverty reduction and social sectors.

The Mission takes up the problem of poverty holistically and deals with

other issues related to poverty like shelter, self-reliance, education and

communication. The project has adopted a different methodology in wiping out

absolute poverty by organizing the poor into Community Based Organisations. The

methodology adopted by the Mission is to build community structures of women

drawn from poverty-stricken families and utilize their collective energy to build

income-generating assets with the help of Government and NABARD and

facilitate them to overcome the tide of poverty through social and economic

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empowerment. The Mission follows a process approach rather than a project

approach24. The spirit of self-help is the guiding principle in this process. The areas

of concentration of the Kudumbashree are housing, safe drinking water, sanitation

and entrepreneurship development.

The specific objectives of Kudumbashree are25:

1. Facilitating self-determination of the poor families through a transparent

risk index composed of socially accepted indicators of poverty through a

participatory survey.

2. Empowering the women among the poor to improve their individual and

collective capabilities by organizing them into neighbourhood groups

(NHGs) at the local level, area development societies at the ward level

(ADSs) and community development societies (CDSs) at the local self-

government level.

3. Encouraging thrift and investment through credit by developing CDSs to

work as informal banks for the poor.

4. Improving incomes of the poor through upgradation of vocational and

managerial skills and creation of opportunities for self-employment and

wage employment.

5. Ensuring better health and nutrition for all poor families.

6. Ensuring access to basic amenities like safe drinking water, sanitary

latrines, improved shelter and healthy living environment.

7. Ensuring zero dropouts in schools for all children belonging to the poor

families.

8. Promoting functional literacy among the poor and supporting continuing

education.

9. Enabling the poor to participate in the decentralization process through the

CDSs as sub-systems of the local government.

10. Helping the poor to fight social evils like alcoholism, smoking and drug

abuse, dowry, discrimination based on gender, religion, caste, etc.

11. Providing a mechanism for convergence of all resources and services meant

for alleviation of poverty in the state.

12. Collaborating with the government and non-government institutions and

agencies in all activities related to improving the quality of life of the poor.

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The key elements of Kudumbashree are26:-

(1) Community- based identification of the poor on the basis of transparent

criteria;

(2) all inclusive organization of the poor through women;

(3) linkages with panchayats

(4) building confidence to access entitlements;

(5) building capacity to access economic opportunities;

(6) social security through mutual thrift and mutual help;

(7) social capital building through regular meetings and interactions;

(8) participatory planning for poverty reduction;

(9) tackling multiple dimensions of poverty;

(10) demand –based convergence of services

(11) excellent outreach and feedback mechanism; and

(12) potential for expansion to cover children, youth and old.

The Kudumbashree system facilitates micro level interventions to reduce

poverty and accurately monitor poverty reduction initiatives.

The Focus

Kudumbashree Mission focuses on:

1. Training for change 2. Education 3. Share and care 4. Community health

care 5. Environmental sanitation 6. The poor women’s bank, and 7.

Community financial Management.

The Strategies

Kudumbashree aims at empowerment of women to become the active

leaders rather than passive recipients. The strategies thus consist of:

(a) Formation of women collectives (b) Information and training (c) Skill

upgradation (d) Thrift-Credit operations (e) Infrastructure development

(f) Micro enterprise development (g) Power to the people, and (h) Leadership

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Community Based Organizational Structure of Kudumbashree

Kudumbashree has a three-tire hierarchal system of organization. The

structure of Kudumbashree is based on ‘ nesting principle’-NHGs at the grassroots,

ADSs at the ward level, and CDS at the Panchayat level27. The grass root level

organisations of Kudumbashree system are the Neighbourhood Groups (NHGs)

comprising of 15-40 adult women members, each from a distinct family of the area

concerned. These Neighbourhood Groups (NHGs) are integrated in ward level as

Area Development Society (ADS) and in Corporation/Municipal/ Panchayat level

as Community Development Society (CDS). Under the system, the NHGs are at

the lowest level and the highest level is the community Development Society

(CDS). In between these two levels, the Area Development society (ADS)

functions. The three- tier organizational system of the poor women is an effective

platform for converging various anti-poverty programmes of the State and Central

Governments. These community based organisations i.e. Neighbourhood Groups

(NHGs), Area Development Societies (ADSs) and Community Development

Societies (CDSs) are the life blood28 of Kudumbashree. The Community Based

Organisations of the Kudumbashree promote self-help and mutual help and it

provides opportunities for public action. The administrative power of these

organisations functioning in three level systems is vested in the hands of women

chosen democratically from the poor families. An important component of the

Kudumbashree structure is its association with, and backing from, local self-

governments and bureaucracy both at the ADS and CDS levels.29

Neighbourhood Group (NHG)

Neighbourhood Group, the grass root level organisations and the building

block of the Kudumbashree Community Based Organizational structure, is an

association of 15-40 women members, each belonging to a distinct risk family. The

membership in Neighbourhood Group (NHG) is based on the rule of ‘one family,

one member’. Identification of the poor is one of the prime requisites for the

formation of Neighbourhood Groups and Kudumbashree uses a multi-dimensional

concept to gauge poverty rather than just judging via a shortfall in income or

consumption of a family. The nine parameters adopted initially by Kudumbashree

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for identifying the poor households have undergone changes and separate indices

have evolved for rural and urban areas. If four or more of the indicators are

positive in a family, Kudumbashree considers it as a risk family.

The revised non-economic risk indicators used in rural areas are30: 1. No

land/less than 10 cents of land 2. No house/Dilapidated house 3. No sanitary latrine

4. No access to safe drinking water within 300 meters 5. Women-headed

household/presence of a widow, divorcee/abandoned lady/unwed mother 6. No

regularly employed person in the family 7. Socially disadvantaged Groups (SC/ST)

8.Presence of mentally or physically challenged person/ chronically ill member in

the family. 9. Families with an illiterate adult member.

The present poverty index of urban areas are31: 1.No land/ Less than 5 cents

of Land 2. No house/Dilapidated house 3. No sanitary latrine 4.No access to safe

drinking water within 150 meters 5.Women headed household/Presence of a

widow, divorcee/abandoned lady/unwed mother 6.No regularly employed person

in the family 7. Socially disadvantaged groups (SC/ST) 8.Presence of mentally or

physically challenged person/chronically ill member in the family 9. Families

without colour TV

Administrative Set –up of Neighbourhood Groups

Each Neighbourhood Group functions through a five-member volunteer

committee, democratically elected from among its members, consisting32 of a

president, secretary, a community health volunteer, an income generating activity

volunteer and infrastructure volunteer. They coordinate and lead the various

activities of the NHGs. Each member of the committee is assigned with specific

responsibilities, viz.,

1. The president has to preside over the weekly meetings and to impart

necessary leadership and guidance to the group members.

2. The secretary is expected to record the proceedings of the meeting and is

responsible for necessary follow up including motivation and team

building.

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3. The community health volunteer is bound to look after various health

related issues of the group members, particularly among children, women

and the aged, and is responsible for the convergence of various

programmes undertaken by the health and social welfare departments.

4. The volunteer for Income generation activity is entrusted with the duty of

collection, consolidation and maintenance of books, accounts and registers

in connection with thrift mobilization. She is also responsible for promoting

self-employment and income generation activities among the members of

the neighbourhood groups.

5. The Infrastructure volunteer has the responsibility of acting as a catalyst for

local development and to work as a liaison with the local bodies. She is in

charge of the basic infrastructure needs of NHG-such as housing,

sanitation, drinking water, drainage etc. Infrastructure backwardness of the

group should be tackled with the help of various ongoing governmental

programmes under the leadership of this volunteer.

The President and the secretary have not only to ensure the smooth

functioning of the group but also to serve as a medium of integration with

concerned Area Development Society, in which the NHG is federated. The way in

which these leaders function is shown in the following chart.

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Chart 1. Components chart of NHG

NHG

Health Volunteer

Infrastructure Volunteer

Income Generation Volunteer

President

Secretary

The important activities of the NHGs34 include credit and thrift programme,

awareness on health, women and child development activities, activities on basic

infrastructure, income generating activities, active participation in Grama Sabha

(Village Assembly), micro –plan preparation, operating Joint bank account,

account keeping, reporting etc.

Resource Mobilization and Utilization by Kudumbashree NHGs

The Kudumbashree NHGs mobilizes resources from different sources like

weekly savings, bank loans, Government assistance by way of revolving fund,

matching grant etc. and also by way of fines and penalties for non-attendance in

meetings and default in paying monthly savings and principal repayments. The

groups are then involved in inter-loaning activities for consumption and productive

purposes. The income generated through productive economic activities are then

used for repaying the loan amount and for spending on basic health, education etc.

The mobilization of corpus fund of NHGs and their utilization are shown in the

following chart.

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Chart 2. Resource mobilization and utilisation by NHGs

Area Development Society (ADS)

THRIFT & INTEREST ON

LOANS

GOVT.

Corpus of NHG Inter Group

Loaning

Consumption Process

Production/ Income

Activities

Employment Opportunities

Income Generation

Profitability Repayment as per the time schedule

Expenditure on Education, Health,

Hygiene, etc.

BANKS

Area Development Society (ADS), the second level of the community

based organizational structure of Kudumbashree, is a cluster formed by networking

Neighbourhood Groups existing at the ward level of the village Panchayat or

municipality, normally 10 to 15 in number. The ADS functions through two

distinct bodies viz. General Body and Governing Body. The general body consists

of a president, secretary and three sectoral volunteers-infrastructure, health and

income generation- from all the NHGs federated to the respective Area

Development Society (ADS). The elected president, secretary and five members to

the Committee from the general body constitute the governing body of the Area

Development Society. The Anganwadi worker and the officer in charge will be ex-

officio members of the ADS. Besides, the respective ward member is the patron of

the concerned ADS in rural areas and a separate Monitoring and Advisory

Committee is formed under the chairmanship of the ward councilor concerned in

the urban areas. The ADS meet monthly and it evaluates the performance of NHGs

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and set guidelines for them. It works in association with local self-government of

that area.

The duties and responsibilities of the ADSs include conducting monthly

meetings, monitoring NHGs, monitoring credit and thrift, kinking NHGs and

Grama Sabha (Village Assembly), initiating micro enterprises, organizing training

in accounting, micro-plan, leadership, micro- enterprise, etc.

The formation of ADS from NHGs in a particular locality is shown in the

flow chart below.

Chart 3. Components of ADS

ADS

NHG - 1

NHG - 2

NHG - 3

NHG - 5

NHG - 6

NHG - 4

Community Development Society (CDS)

It is the apex body of the three-tiered system of Kudumbashree, formed at

Local Self Government (LSG) level. This is a federation of all the Area

Development Societies (ADSs) in the respective local body and is a registered non-

government organization. As it is formed at LSG level, there is only one CDS for

each of the grama panchayats and urban local bodies with the exception of Cochin

corporation, which is having two CDSs. CDS works for the removal of risk factors,

which are the basic causes, as well as effect of poverty. CDSs at the local body

levels facilitate autonomy and linkage with local self-governments. It monitors the

programmes undertaken by the ADSs on monthly basis and takes steps to improve

the implementation of the programmes. The general body meeting of the CDS will

be convened once in every three months to evaluate all activities done in Panchayat

/ Municipality level under Kudumbashree.

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Each CDS under the Kudumbashree project is an independent entity

registered under the Travancore–Cochin Literary Scientific and Charitable

Societies Act of 1955, which facilitates autonomy and flexibility to the functioning

of the community-based organization. Such a registration enables the Community

Development Society (CDS) to gain the leverage of NGO so as to channelise

resources from various sources. The CDS has a general body and a governing body

to carry out its functions. The general body of the CDS consists of all the members

of the Governing body of ADSs in the respective local body along with

representatives of resource persons and officers of the local government who are

involved in implementing various poverty alleviation and women empowerment

programmes. The Chairperson, Vice Chairperson and seven other members elected

from the General body of Community Development Society and the member

secretary constitute its Governing Body37. The secretary of the CDS will be a

government official nominated by the local self-government while the chairperson

is elected from among the representatives of ADSs. At the rural level, the president

of the Village Panchayaat is the patron of the CDS. The Standing committee

chairperson (welfare), all women members of the panchayats, secretary of the

grama panchyats and block panachayat member of the respective division are ex-

officio members of the CDS. The welfare Standing Committee directly monitors

the functioning of the CDS. In the urban set up a monitoring and Advisory

Committee headed by the Mayor/ the Municipal Chairperson, is constituted. The

municipal Secretary is the Convener of the committee and the project officer of

UPA is the Joint Convener.

The duties and responsibilities of CDS are38 the following:

1. Conduct general body meetings once in three months and governing body

meetings once in every month.

2. Monitor Kudumbashree activities of the panchayat

3. Monitor credit and thrift

4. Report on NHGs to the officer in charge

5. Explore government and other schemes

6. Organize trainings and seminars

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7. Provide guidelines to the panchayat for poverty eradication programme

(PEP) through NHGs.

8. Project consolidation on PEP

9. Operate joint account of chairperson & officer in-charge

The formation of local self-government level CDS is shown in the following flow

chart.

Chart 4. Components of CDS

CDS

ADS - 1

ADS - 2

ADS - 3

ADS - 5

ADS - 6

ADS - 4

Structure of Local Self Government Level CDS

The CDS general body that comprises the members of the governing body

of all the ADSs of the local self-government concerned constitutes the 9-member

governing body of the CDS. The general body of each ADS in turn consists of the

5-member volunteer committee of all the NHGs that existed in the respective

wards. The structure of the local self-government level CDS is shown in the

following chart.

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Chart 5. Form

ation of local self government level com

munity developm

ent society

Coverage of Kudumbashree Project in Kerala

The Kudumbashree has become a massive movement encompassing

180628 Neighbourhood Groups (NHGs) of women members, as on 31st March

2007, who have been federated into 16779 Ward level Area Development Societies

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and 1058 Local Self Government Level Community Development Societies

(CDSs). The cumulative status of Kudumbashree Community Based Organisations

in Kerala is depicted in Table 3.2.

Table 3. 2 : Year-wise cumulative status of Kudumbashree CBOs in Kerala

(As on 31st March)

(A)Urban: 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007

Total No. of NHGs 7863 7947 8667 10687 12430

Total No.ADSs 623 635 715 896 1005

Total No. of CDSs 59 59 59 59 59

Average No. of NHGs per ADS 13 13 12 12 12

Average No. of NHGs per CDS 133 135 147 181 211

(B)Rural:

Total No. of NHGs 108935 124753 146032 155153 168198

Total No.ADSs 12978 13186 13200 13443 15774

Total No. of CDSs 991 991 991 991 999



(C)Total: ( A+B)

Total No. of NHGs 116798 132700 154699 165840 180628

Total No. ADSs 13601 13821 13915 14339 16779

Total No. of CDSs 1050 1050 1050 1050 1058



Source: Compiled and Computed from the monthly status report of Kerala State Poverty Eradication Mission, Thiruvananthapuram

From the data provided in the above table, it is evident that the total number

of Kudumbashree NHGs increased from 116798 in 2002-03 to 180628 in 2006-07

showing a cumulative growth of 54.65% in 4 years. The table also indicates that

though the programme was conceived in all local self-government levels by the

70

end of 31st March 2002, a significant number of wards were left out of coverage of

Kudumbashree programme as on that date. The number of ADSs had increased by

23.37% during 2006-07 in comparison with the number of ADSs in 2002-03. As

all the then urban and rural local self government bodies were brought under the

Kudumbashree project by the end of 31st March 2002, the number of CDSs

remains the same through out the periods under review except during the year

2006-07. During this period the number of CDSs increased to 1058 due to the

formation of new panchayats. The average number of NHGs per ADS increased

from 9 to 11 during the period and the average number of NHGs per CDS

increased from 111 to 171.

Sector-wise (rural-urban) comparison of the status of Kudumbashree

Community Based Organisations revealed that out of a total of 180628 NHGs as

on 31st March 2007, 93.12% represent rural and the remaining 6.88% urban. The

total number of ADSs and CDSs as on 31st March 2007 was 1005 and 59

respectively in the urban areas as against 15774 ADS and 999 CDS in the rural

sector. The average number of NHGs per CDS has increased from 133 to 211 in

urban areas and from 110 to 168 in rural areas indicating the formation of new

ADSs and new NHGs during the period.

Membership of the Project

The size of the membership has an influence on the economic viability of

the project. A larger size is economically more viable and hence all the efforts

were made by Kudumbashree Mission to bring the eligible families under the

project. The Mission has succeeded in mobilizing 3777234 families in the State

under the project up to 31st March 2007.The details of families covered under the

project during the periods from 2002-03 to 2006-07 are shown in Table 3.3.

71

Table 3.3: Year-wise cumulative coverage of families under the

Kudumbashree project in Kerala (As on 31st March)

(A)Urban: 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 Total No. of Families covered

247165 273347 292207 292207 516751

Average No. of Families per NHG

31 34 34 27 42

Average No. of Families per ADS

397 430 409 326 514

Average No. of Families per CDS

4189 4633 4953 4953 8758

(B)Rural: Total No. of Families covered

2083323 2487168 2862823 3053302 3260483


19 20 20 20 19


161 189 217 227 207


2102 2510 2889 3081 3264

( C ) Total: (A+B) Total No. of Families covered

2330488 2760515 3155030 3345509 3777234


20 21 20 20 21


171 200 227 233 225


2220 2629 3005 3186 3570

Source: Compiled and Computed from the monthly Status Report of Kerala State Poverty Eradication Mission, Thiruvananthapuram

From the table it can be noticed that the membership in NHGs had

increased by 62.08 % during 2006-07 in relation to 2002-03. The rural –urban

proportion of membership is about 6.31:1as on 31st March 2007 as against

8.43:1.in 2002-03, indicating relatively higher progress in the membership

mobilization in urban sector. During the year 2006-07 the families covered under

the project in urban sector has increased by 76.84 % in comparison with that of in

the previous year. It also indicates that a large number of poor families were kept

outside the project for many years in spite of the fact that Kudumbashree project

had started functioning in urban areas since 1998-99.The average number of

families per NHG,ADS and CDS had increased by 35.48%,29.47% and 109.07%

respectively in urban areas during 2006-2007 in comparison with that of in 2002-

2003.There is no change in the average number of families per NHG in rural areas

72

while the average number of families per ADS and CDS had increased by 28.57%

and 55.68 % respectively during the period.

Sector-wise analysis indicates wider disparity in the average number of

families per NHG in the rural and urban sectors. The average number was 19 in

rural areas and 42 in urban areas while the state average comprising of both rural

and urban stood at 21 as on 31st March 2007.

The average number of families per ADS and CDS in rural areas were 207 and

3264 respectively as against 514 and 8758 in urban areas.

The District-wise status of Kudumbashree Community Based Organisations

in rural areas are given in Table 3.4.

Table 3. 4 : District-wise status of rural Kudumbashree community based

organisations

Sl.No. District No.of NHGs

No.of ADSs

No. of NHGs

per ADS

No. of CDSs

No. of NHGs

per CDS 1 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14.

ThiruvananthapuramKollam Pathanamthitta Alappuzha Kottayam Idukki Ernakulam Thrissur Palakkad Malappuram Kozhikkode Wayanad Kannur Kasargode Total

16744 12114 6555 12876 10546 9008 12189 15512 19636 13296 13668 7329 10698 5583

165754

1250 1214 728 1113 1153 750 1310 1324 1434 1845 1309 434 1264 646

15774

13 9 9 11 9 12 9 11 13 7 10 16 8 8

10

78 71 54 73 75 52 88 92 91 102 78 25 81 39

999

214 170 121 176 140 173 138 168 215 130 175 293 132 143

165

Source: Compiled and Computed from the monthly Status Report of Kerala State Poverty Eradication Mission, Thiruvananthapuram

With regard to the number of Kudumbashree NHGs in rural Kerala as on

31st March 2007, it can be observed from Table 3.4 that Palakkad district ranks the

top with 19636 NHGs while Kasargode district stood at the bottom with 5583

73

NHGs. ADS wise analysis shows that the average number of NHGs is the highest

in Wayanad district i.e. 16 and lowest in Malappuram district i.e. 7. The number of

NHGs per CDS ranges from 121 in Pathanamthitta district to 293 in Wayanadu

district.

The major operations undertaken by the Kudumbashree project are

presented below:-

Micro Finance & Linkage Banking

Kudumbashree of Kerala is an outgrowth of the broad microfinance

initiative in the country40. Micro finance has been recognized and accepted by

Government of Kerala as one of the new development paradigms for alleviating

poverty through social and economic empowerment of the poor. Experiences of

different anti-poverty and other welfare programmes have shown that the key to

success lies in the evolution and participation of community based organisations at

the grass root level. People’s participation in credit delivery and recovery and

linking of formal credit institutions to borrowers through group approach have

been considered as a supplementary mechanism for providing credit support to the

poor. The Kudumbashree program in Kerala comes under the SHG-Bank Linkage

model where the social intermediary is a state government entity

(Kudumbashree)41. NHGs, the grassroots level units of the poor women under the

project, act as an effective Micro Finance Institution (MFI)42.

Kudumbashree Model of Microfinance

The different stages involved in the Kudumbashree model of microfinance

are43:

a. Thrift mobilization

b. Sanctioning credit

c. Repayment and monitoring of credit

d. Grading of NHGs

e. Linking with banks

f. Development of micro enterprises by availing loan from NHG

g. Training

74

h. Market development

i. Generation of income and repayment of loan to NHG

j. Repayment of bank loan by NHG.

1. Thrift and Credit Operations

Kudumbashree NHGs act as the Thrift-Credit Societies and facilitates the

poor to save and provide them with cost effective and easy credit. The members

bring in small sums as weekly savings, pool them together, form a corpus and take

loans to meet their immediate needs. The thrift and credit operations also

necessitate a formal bank account that is operated jointly by the President and the

Secretary. The most striking aspects of thrift and credit societies of Kudumbashree

viz., thrift collection, internal lending, accounts keeping etc. are done by the poor

women themselves. They are the depositors, borrowers, managers and cashiers of

thrift-credit societies. Thrift-credit societies promoted by Kudumbashree are fast

growing as ‘Informal Banks of the Poor Women’ at their doorsteps. Up to 31st

March 2007, Kudumbashree NHGs had collected thrift of Rs.841.49 crores and

this has been circulated as loan amounting to Rs.2130.16 crores.

(a) Thrift Mobilisation

Thrift constitutes an important source of funds for the NHGs. The

prosperity of the NHGs depends considerably on its capacity to mobilize thrift. The

NHG thrift has become a community asset and hence the women in the BPL

families can use it as security for availing loans. The cumulative amount of thrift

mobilized as on 31st March 2007 stood at Rs. 841.49 crores. The cumulative thrift

mobilizations under the project for different periods are shown in Table 3.5

75

Table 3.5 : Year-wise cumulative thrift mobilizations under the


(A)Urban: 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 Cumulative thrift (Rs.in Lakhs)

1990.99 2245.24 2861.68 4181.70 4750.30

Average thrift per Family(Rs.)

806.00 821.00 979.00 1431.00 919.00

Average thrift per NHG(Rs.)

25321.00 28253.00 33018.00 39129.00 38216.00

Average thrift per ADS (Rs.)

319581.00 353581.00 400235.00 466708.00 472667.00

Average thrift per CDS(Rs.)

3374559.00 3805492.00 4850305.00 7087627.00 8051356.00

(B)Rural: Cumulative thrift(Rs.inLakhs)

16438.29 29156.41 44495.87 60034.15 79398.67


789.00 1172.00 1554.00 1966.00 2435.00


15090.00 23371.00 30470.00 38694.00 47205.00


126663.00 221116.00 337090.00 446583.00 503352.00


1658758.00 2942120.00 4489997.00 6057936.00 7947815.00

( C ) Total: (A+B) Cumulative thrift(Rs.inLakhs)

18429.28 31401.65 47357.55 64215.85 84148.97


791.00 1138.00 1501.00 1919.00 2228.00


15779.00 23664.00 30613.00 38722.00 46587.00


135499.00 227202.00 340335.00 447841.00 501514.00


1755170.00 2990633.00 4510243.00 6115795.00 7953589

Source: Compiled and Computed from the monthly status report of Kerala State Poverty Eradication Mission, Thiruvananthapuram

76

The thrift mobilized, an index of the progress of Kudumbashree project, has

recorded phenomenal rates of growth as could be seen from the Table 3.5. The

thrift mobilized increased from 184.29 crores as at the end of 31st March, 2003 to

841.49 crores at the end of 2006-2007, registering a growth rate of 356.61.%.

Sector-wise analysis reveals that rural Kudumbashree NHGs have

mobilized Rs.793.99 crores upto 31st March 2007 that constitutes 94.35% of the

total thrift mobilized under the project in Kerala. The remaining 5.65. % is

mobilized by urban Kudumbashree NHGs. The average thrift per family in urban

areas is Rs.919 as against Rs.2435 in rural areas. The average thrift per NHG and

ADS in rural areas is 1.23 and 1.06 times as that of urban areas as on 31st March

2007.It also shows that thrift per CDS is higher in urban areas, which is 1.01 times

as that of rural CDS.

(b) Internal Lending:

Internal lending has become an important activity of Kudumbashree NHGs

and it is considered as another important criterion for measuring the progress of the

Kudumbashree project. The savings collected through Kudumbashree Community

Based Organisations are used for internal lending among the members for different

purposes ranging from consumption loans to income generation loans. The

repayment is collected weekly during the routine NHG meetings and the interest

from savings is generally accumulated in the Group’s savings account and is used

for re-loaning to its members. The accumulated amount of internal loan disbursed

by Kudumbashree NHGs in Kerala as on 31st march 2007 stood at Rs. 2130.16

crores. The year-wise details of internal loans disbursed under Kudumbashree

project for five years ending 31st March 2007 are given in Table 3.6

77

Table 3.6 Year-wise cumulative amount of internal loan disbursed under the


(A)Urban: 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 Cumulative Loan (Rs.in Lakhs)

2095.87 2301.66 3131.00 4089.62 5402.90

Average Loan per Family(Rs.)

848.00 842.00 1072.00 1400.00 1046.00

Average Loan per NHG(Rs.)

26655.00 28963.00 36126.00 38267.00 43467.00

Average Loan per ADS (Rs.)

336416.00 362466.00 437902.00 456431.00 537602.00

Average Loan per CDS(Rs.)

3552322.00 3901119.00 5306780.00 6931559.00 9157458.00

(B)Rural: Cumulative Loan(Rs.inLakhs)

19865.30 51596.03 97289.44 143223.26 207613.48


954.00 2074.00 3398.00 4691.00 6368.00


18236.00 41359.00 66622.00 92311.00 123434.00


153069.00 391294.00 737041.00 1065411.00 1316175.00


2004571.00 5206461.00 9817300.00 14452398.00 20782130.00

( C ) Total: (A+B) Cumulative Loan(Rs.inLakhs)

21961.17 53897.69 100420.44 147312.88 213016.38


942.00 1952.00 3183.00 4403.00 5639.00


18803.00 40616.00 64913.00 88828.00 117931.00


161467.00 389970.00 721670.00 1027358.00 1269542.00


2091540.00 5133113.00 9563851.00 14029798.00 20133873.00

Source: Compiled and Computed from the monthly status report of Kerala State Poverty

Eradication Mission, Thiruvananthapuram

Table 3.6 indicates that the volume of thrift loan distributed by

Kudumbashree NHGs had increased by 869.97 % during a period of four years

from 2002-03 to 2006-07. The distribution of loans during this period in the urban

sector had increased by 157.79 % and in the rural sector by 945.11 %. The average

loan per family in urban sector was Rs. 1046 as on 31st March 2007 as against Rs.

6368 in the rural sector. The state average was Rs.5639.The analysis further

reveals that the average loan per NHG in the rural sector is 2.84 times as that of

78

urban sector; the average loan per ADS in the rural sector is 2.45 times as that of

urban sector and the average loan per CDS in the rural sector is 2.27 times as that

of urban sector.

(c)Velocity of Internal Lending (VIL):

VIL is an index of the sustainable thrift and credit operations of the

Kudumbashree Neighbourhood Groups. It is arrived at by dividing the credit by

thrift mobilized44. A lending rate of more than one is considered as a symbol of

sustainable thrift credit operations. The details of cumulative velocity of internal

lending of Kudumbashree NHGs for different years are given in Table 3.7.

Table 3.7: Year-wise cumulative velocity of internal lending of

Kudumbashree NHGs in Kerala (As on 31st March)

(A) Urban 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 Cumulative Thrift (Rs. in Lakhs)

1990.99 2245.24 2861.68 4181.70 4750.30

Cumulative Loan (Rs. in Lakhs)

2095.87 2301.66 3131.00 4089.62 5402.90

VIL 1.05 1.03 1.09 0.98 1.14(B) Rural Cumulative Thrift (Rs. in Lakhs)

16438.29 29156.41 44495.87 60034.15 79398.67


19865.30 51596.03 97289.44 143223.26 207613.48

VIL 1.21 1.77 2.19 2.39 2.61(C) Total(A+B) Cumulative Thrift (Rs. in Lakhs)

18429.28 31401.65 47357.55 64215.85 84148.97


21961.17 53897.69 100420.44 147312.88 213016.38

VIL 1.19 1.72 2.12 2.29 2.53Source: Compiled and Computed from the Monthly Status Report of Kerala State Poverty

Eradication Mission, Thiruvananthapuram

It can be observed from the table that the overall velocity of internal

lending of Kudumbashree NHGs as on 31st March 2007 was 2.53. Sector wise

79

analysis shows that the VIL of the Kudumbashree NHGs in rural sector is 2.61

while it is only 1.14 in the case of urban sector. The VIL of Kudumbashree NHGs

in rural and urban sectors had increased from 1.21 to 2.61 and 1.05 to 1.14

respectively during the period from 2002-03 to 2006-07.The rate of growth of VIL

in urban areas is very insignificant and even decreased during 2004 and 2006 in

comparison with that of in the previous years. But there are significant increases in

the VIL in rural areas registering a growth rate of nearly 116% over the period of

evaluation.

(ii) Linkage Banking

Kudumbashree launched the linkage-banking programme during 2002-

2003 subject to the grading of the NHGs as per NABARD norms45. Up to 31st

March 2006, 70548 NHGs were linked with banks and a sum of Rs.33769.97 lakhs

has been made available to the NHGs as loan. The progress of bank-linkage

programme over a period of three years is shown in Table 3.8.

Table 3.8 : Progress of bank linkage programme under Kudumbashree

project

Year Total No. of NHGs

Cumulative)

NHGs Linked

(Cumulative)

Percentage

Linkage(Cumulative)

2002-03 116798 21149 18.11

2005-06 165840 70548 42.54

Source: Compiled from the Monthly Status Report of Kerala State Poverty Eradication Mission,

Thiruvananthapuram

The table indicates that 21149 NHGs were linked to banks for availing

credit till 31st March 2003, which accounts for only 18.11 % of the total NHGs as

on that date; though the corresponding percentage as on 31st March 2006 was

42.54. It should be an eye opener to the fact that 57.46 % of the total NHGs

remains unlinked with banks for credit as at the end of 2006. Many Kudumbashree

NHGs have not approached banks for availing credit due to various reasons like

insufficient savings to meet their requirements, location of banks in far away

places, NHGs are too young to access bank loans, poor functioning of NHGs, fear

80

of repayments, lack of trust and unity among members, lack of awareness among

members, indifferent attitude of banks, inability to undertake income generation

activities, unwillingness of members to undertake risk etc. The district-wise details

of bank linkage programme of Kudumbashree are shown in Table 3.9.

Table 3.9 : District linkage programme under Kudumbashree project

Sl. No District

Cumulative 2006-07

2003 2007

NHGs Linked

Amount (Rs.

Lakhs)

NHGs Linked

Amount (Rs.

Lakhs)

NHGs Linked

Amount (Rs.in Lakhs)

1 Thiruvananthapuram 1499 365.91 8983 3508.79 997 425.11

2 Kollam 1912 926.55 7526 5117.08 1713 1315.18

3 Pathanamthitta 894 176.67 2429 2409.87 273 449.95

4 Alappuzha 2363 719.33 9241 4702.88 247 303.99

5 Kottayam 1104 280.92 3366 2172.27 457 575.22

6 Idukki 1400 431.30 3927 2807.06 462 400.60

7 Eranakulam 1581 325.25 5873 2156.96 1010 521.25

8 Thrissur 1875 734.62 5269 2566.04 97 126.61

9 Palakkad 1161 107.18 9824 3655.55 1607 525.07

10 Malappuram 537 604.41 4360 1745.65 213 217.17

11 Kozhikkode 1394 442.14 5377 2790.63 596 553.63

12 Wayanad 2173 629.80 5950 4070.78 102 907.54

13 Kannur 1432 381.54 4106 1932.38 178 407.56

14 Kasargode 1824 229.09 2449 1000.75 180 137.84

Total 21149 6354.71 78680 40636.69 8132 6866.72 Source: Compiled from the Monthly Status Report of Kerala State Poverty Eradication Mission,

Thiruvananthapuram

The above table indicates that beginning with 21149 NHGs during 2002-

2003, a cumulative total of 78680 NHGs all over the districts were linked with the

banks by 31st January 2007. The cumulative disbursement of bank loan was Rs.

40636.69 lakhs as on 31st January 2007 as against Rs.6354.71 lakhs as on 31st

March 2003. Over the four years period (2002-03 to 2006-07), the number of

NHGs linked increased by 272.% and the amount of loan availed from banks

increased by 539.47 %. Out of the total NHGs linked up to 31st January 2007,

81

10.34 % was linked during 2006-07 and the amount of bank loan availed during

the same period constitutes 16.90 % of the cumulative linkage loan.

Among the various districts, Alappuzha stood first with regard to the

cumulative number of NHGs linked both at the end of 2003 and 2007.

As regards the cumulative amount of bank loan availed, Alappuzha stood

first at the end of 2003 while Kollam stood first at the end of 2007. The table also

indicates that Pathanamthitta district is in the forefront with regard to average

cumulative linkage loan availed i.e., Rs.99212 per NHG at the end of 2007 while

Ernakulam district ranks the lowest with Rs. 36727 per NHG.

Micro Enterprises

Kudumbashree, since its inception conceived micro enterprises as an

effective tool for poverty reduction and local economic development. It provides

an excellent opportunity for creating gainful employment to the people below

poverty line and thereby improving their income and living standard. It favours the

development of the private sector, the promotion of women and the

implementation of community development by private initiative, that reduces

poverty and contribute to a fairer income distribution. Micro enterprises can be

considered as important vehicles through which low-income people can escape

from poverty. The Kudumbashree defines a micro enterprise as an enterprise that

has46:

i. investment ranging from Rs. 5000 to Rs. 2.5 lakhs.

ii. a turnover ranging from over of Rs. 1 lakh to Rs. 10 lakhs.

iii. the potential to generate a net income of at least Rs. 1500 per member

per month.

iv. and is fully owned, managed and operated by members themselves.

Process of Identification of Micro Enterprises

The vital ingredient of the Micro Enterprise strategy is the proper

identification of innovative and creative activities suited to the specific

environment in which the poor are living, which try to solve the problems faced by

the community and also by using the technological know-how already available.

82

Hence Kudumbashree identifies the micro enterprises basically following three

different approaches such as a. Problem Solving b. Gap filling c.Grabbing the

emerging opportunities.

Problem Solving: Kudumbashree promotes micro enterprises by making solutions

to the problems and threats faced by the people in their day-to-day life under the

prevailing socio-economic systems of the society. The idea of solutions to the

problems will lead to an opportunity for setting up an enterprise eg. Kudumbashree

has formed group micro enterprises in urban areas for the collection and safe

disposal of solid waste from houses, hotels, shops etc. as the then prevailed waste

disposal system was quite unhygienic and a threat to the environment.

Gap Filling: Kudumbashree concentrates on those sectors where enough space is

available to put up new enterprises though a number of enterprises already exist in

the particular sectors concerned. eg. In the catering sector inspite of the existence

of well-established hotels and restaurants, there is scope for new hotels and

catering units and Kudumbashree concentrates attention in starting enterprises in

that sector.

Grabbing Emerging Opportunities: The global economy provides a lot of

opportunities to the educated youth in various sectors especially in the IT sector.

Kudumbashree aims at those emerging opportunities for conceiving new

enterprises eg. IT @ school programme started by Kudumbashree project.

Let us examine the statistics and other relevant information about the micro

enterprises started in urban and rural areas.

Micro Enterprises in Urban Areas: In Kerala the role of State Urban

Development Agency (SUDA) is taken up by Kudumbashree and the

implementation of SJSRY and NSDP are done and monitored by it47. Swarna

Jayanthi Shahari Rozgar Yojana (SJSRY) is an anti-poverty programme launched

by the government of India in December 1997 for eradicating absolute poverty

from urban areas. The community development structure is providing the delivery

system for the scheme. Identification of the beneficiaries, selection of micro

projects, preparation of application, monitoring of recovery, actual

implementation, social audit etc. are done through the Community Development

83

Structure. Urban Self Employment Programme (USEP), one of the two sub

schemes of SJSRY, helps the individual urban poor in setting up self employment

ventures and the other sub schemes namely Development of Women and Children

in Urban Areas (DWCUA) helps in setting up of group enterprises in urban areas.

Kudumbashree provides training programmes for improving the functional skill of

poor women and equipping them for taking up of micro enterprises. The details of

urban micro enterprises under the two schemes are shown in Table 3.10.

Table 3. 10 : District-wise number of urban micro enterprises

Sl. No.

Name of District DWCUA USEP Total

1 Thiruvananthapuram 240 2304 2544 2 Kollam 80 1977 2057 3 Pathanamthitta 33 918 951 4 Alappuzha 159 2690 2849 5 Kottayam 75 1068 1143 6 Idukki 11 91 102 7 Eranakulam 431 2502 2933 8 Thrissur 151 1350 1501 9 Palakkad 84 1972 2056 10 Malappuram 82 1010 1092 11 Kozhikkode 199 2020 2219 12 Wayanad 16 125 141 13 Kannur 88 1740 1828 14 Kasargodu 47 710 757

Total 1696 20477 22173 Source: Compiled from the Monthly Status Report of Kerala State Poverty Eradication

Mission, Thiruvananthapuram

Table 3.10 shows that in urban areas, group micro enterprises are

concentrated in a few districts like Thiruvananthapuram, Alappuzha, Ernakulam,

Thissur and Kozhikkode. But the distribution of individual enterprises exhibited a

different pattern. It also indicates that Ernakulam district has the highest number of

enterprises under the DWCUA scheme while Alappuzha district ranks top as

regards the enterprises under the USEP scheme. Ernakulam district is also in the

forefront of conducting the micro enterprises under the SJSRY which accounts for

13.23 % of the total enterprises under the scheme in Kerala as on 30th November

84

2006. The proportion of the micro enterprises under these two schemes of SJSRY

in Kerala may be expressed as 12 :1 between USEP and DWCUA.

Micro Enterprises in Rural Areas

Though Kudumbashree programme was extended to the rural areas of the

state only during 2000-01, more than 40000 micro enterprises have already been

started functioning in the gramapanchayats of Kerala under the aegis of the

Mission. The state budgets provide support to set up micro enterprises and until

31st January 2007, 2268 group micro enterprises and 919 individual enterprises

have been set up in the rural areas. The enterprises are diverse and innovative in

nature. The district-wise details of subsidy supported rural group micro enterprises

and of rural individual micro enterprises as on 31st March 2007 are shown in Table

3.11 and Table 3.12 respectively.

Table 3.11 : District-wise distribution of rural individual micro enterprises

Sl. No

District Cumulative 2006-07 No. of

Enterprises Subsidy

(Rs.) No. of

Enterprises Subsidy Amount

(Rs.) 1 Thiruvananthapuram 246 1653900 4 300002 Kollam 175 1302000 1 75003 Pathanamthitta 10 75000 9 680004 Alappuzha 24 164940 9 675005 Kottayam 8 59000 2 140006 Idukki 163 1194950 22 1630007 Eranakulam 10 75000 5 375008 Thrissur 14 97800 9 603009 Palakkad 4 30000 4 3000010 Malappuram 52 330350 47 29235011 Kozhikkode 107 790500 13 9750012 Wayanad 4 30000 2 1500013 Kannur 7 52500 4 3000014 Kasargodu 95 635500 4 30000 Total 919 6491440 135 942650

Source: Compiled from the monthly status report of Kerala State Poverty Eradication Mission, Thiruvananthapuram

The analysis of the rural individual micro enterprises (Table 3.11) indicates

that out of a total of 919 enterprises the highest number of 246 (26.76%) is

functioning in the Thiruvananthapuram district followed by Kollam, Idukki and

Kozhikkode with 175, 163 and 107 enterprises respectively. Palakkad and

85

Wayanad districts have the least number of rural individual micro enterprises as on

31st January 2007 i.e. 4 each. Malappuram district ranks top in the formation of

individual micro enterprises during 2006-07. The table also reveals that a total

subsidy of Rs. 942650 was extended for the rural individual micro enterprises in

Kerala until 31st January 2007.

Table: 3.12 : District-wise distribution of rural group micro enterprises

Sl. No

District Total No.of GPs

No. of GPs where Enterprises

Exists

No.of Group

Enterprises

No of Beneficiaries

Subsidy Amount

(Rs.)

1 Thiruvananthapuram 78 36 250 1764 137874692 Kollam 71 26 189 1115 75275003 Pathanamthitta 54 24 149 760 46710004 Alappuzha 73 40 184 1177 85600005 Kottayam 75 13 46 324 24800006 Idukki 52 31 428 2954 212279507 Eranakulam 88 43 208 1307 110940008 Thrissur 92 34 165 1036 81339959 Palakkad 91 31 207 1141 923225010 Malappuram 102 36 190 1468 1289025011 Kozhikkode 78 56 275 1772 1523100012 Wayanad 25 12 46 320 271750013 Kannur 81 21 104 687 493731014 Kasargode 39 18 93 645 4701900 Total 999 421 2534 16470 127192124

Source: Compiled from the Monthly Status Report of Kerala State Poverty Eradication Mission, Thiruvananthapuram

.

The above table shows that Idukki district ranks first in the conduct of

subsidy supported group micro enterprises. The number of group enterprises in

Idukki was 428 as on 31st March 2007 as against the least of 46 group enterprises

in Wayanad District. The total subsidy extended to the group enterprises until 31st

March 2007 is Rs. 127192124. It also indicates that subsidy supported group micro

enterprises existed only in 42 % of the total grama panchayats in Kerala as on 31st

March 2007. District-wise analysis shows that Kozhikkode District emerges with

the highest percentage coverage of gramapanchayats under the group micro

enterprise programme of Kudumbashree with 72% of the total panchayats of the

district while Kannur district stood last with 26%. The total number of persons

engaged in group Enterprises were 16470 and the average per Group was 6.5. It is

86

observed that the subsidy supported group micro enterprises were unevenly

distributed among different districts.

Balasabhas

Kudumbashree has facilitated the formation of Balasabhas as48 a part of its

holistic approach to wipe out poverty from the state of Kerala. Balasabhas are

grassroots level groups of the children of BPL families49. It acts as an informal

forum of the children, which provides them a platform, to help develop their

overall capabilities that combine education, entertainment and empowerment. The

forum helps the poor children to improve their creativity and talents. It also

provides a conducive atmosphere of informal learning for the children from the

poor families. The Balasabhas, which are viewed as aftermaths of NHGs formed

under Kudumbashree, intend to prevent intergenerational transmission of poverty.

‘Catch them young and nip poverty in the buds’ is the guiding slogan behind the

Balasabha movement initiated by the Mission. District-wise details of balasabhas

formed by Kudumbashree are given in Table 3.13.

Table 3.13 : District-wise distribution of balasabha

under the kudumbashree

No. District No. of Balasabhas formed

No. of children

Thrift

1 2. 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14

ThiruvananthapuramKollam Pathanamthitta Alappuzha Kottayam Idukki Ernakulam Thrisur Palakkad Malappuram Kozhikkode Wayanad Kannur Kasargode

2420 829 852

1671 1315 1603 2803 1310 1772 1413 2835 2081 1832 894

39207 19011 21509 31315 27160 26992 48402 24557 30401 17757 48997 29465 28910 15515

13408

1659000815655

111957168881

Total 23630 409198 2768901 Source: Compiled from the Monthly Status Report of Kerala State Poverty Eradication


87

Micro housing-Bhavanashree

Bhavanashree is an innovative housing programme launched by

Kudumbashree to cater to the needs of the poor in Kerala. This lone housing

scheme of Kudumbashree is being implemented with the active support of

nationalized, scheduled commercial and private sector banks. Under the

programme the homeless families which own at least 1.5 cents of land or landless

for whom LSGIs can provide 1.5 cents of land are assisted through loans, the

repayment of which is ensured by tri-party agreement among the beneficiaries, the

Community Development Societies and the Financial Institutions/Banks. Regular

and consistent participation in CBOs and consistent thrift habit are also considered

as criteria for the selection of the beneficiaries under the scheme. Kudumbashree

Community Based Organization Structure is playing an active role in the

identification of applicants, screening of applications, disbursal of loan amounts

and monitoring of payments and construction of houses. In this programme, the

bank provides the eligible applicant a loan of Rs. 40000 @ 7.25 per cent interest

with a repayment period of 10 years. The features like limited paper work, low

processing time, absence of processing fees, absence of penalty for prepayment,

insurance coverage etc. adds to the attractiveness of the scheme. Until July 2006,

51806 families were identified under the scheme, 44774 applications were

collected, 36937 applications were forwarded to the banks, and 30132 applications

were sanctioned by the banks of which 28642 applicants were provided with loan

of Rs. 11269.96 lakhs. The district –wise status of Bhavanashree programme up to

the month of July 2006 is shown in the Table.3.14.

88

Table 3. 14 : District-wise status of Bhavanashree programme

No. District No. of

Borrowers Identified

No.of Applications

Collected By CDS

No.of Applications Forwarded to Banks

No.of Applications Sanctioned by Banks

No.of cases

disbursed

Amount Disbursed (Rs.Lakh)

1 2. 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14

Thiruvananthapuram Kollam Pathanamthitta Alappuzha Kottayam Idukki Ernakulam Thrisur Palakkad Malappuram Kozhikkode Wayanad Kannur Kasargode Total

5118 2360 2254 4165 2851 1095 2496 3736 4656 3738 6282 4640 5314 3101

51806

4480 2343 2037 4129 2424 1095 2055 3551 4503 3249 5442 2981 4103 2382

44774

4444 1878 1966 4063 1897 1072 1806 2818 2811 2814 4397 2598 3103 1270

36937

2748 1526 1661 3343 1794 1058 1457 2118 1807 2779 3323 2321 3044 1153

30132

2403 1419 1620 3243 1794 1027 1431 2031 1628 2756 3366 2170 2617 1137

28642

931.26 522.46 651.77

1255.85 668.38 410.80 587.90 812.32 711.22

1111.60 1227.17

903.30 1006.91

469.02 11269.96

Source: Compiled from the Monthly Status Report of Kerala State Poverty Eradication Mission, Thiruvananthapuram

Lease Land Farming-Harithashree

Lease land Farming, one of the programmes of Kudumbashree, aims at

making available land on lease to the poor families who are ready to do farming for

livelihood. In spite of the fact that Kerala is a thickly populated state and there is

shortage of land, large areas of cultivable land are kept idle due to the waning

interest in agriculture. On the other hand, thousands of poor families who do not

own land are interested to venture into agriculture for a livelihood. It is in this

context that Kudumbashree promoted lease land farming which brings the landless

poor women of NHGs and the landlords, who are not interested in cultivation,

together for their mutual benefits. The programme facilitated employment

opportunities for women in agriculture sector, cultivation of fallow lands,

increased land productivity, additional income and food security for poor families,

opportunity to implement new agricultural methods and new planting materials,

availability of loans from financial institutions, and revamping the agricultural

sector. In 802 grama panchayats 16133.66 hectares of land has been brought under

cultivation by 297913 families from 27592 NHGs through lease land farming as on

31st March 2005. The district-wise particulars of lease land farming are shown in

Table 3.15

89

Table 3.15 : District-wise status of lease land farming

No. District No. of GPs No.of NHGs No. of

families Area in Hec.

1 2. 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14

Thiruvananthapuram Kollam Pathanamthitta Alappuzha Kottayam Idukki Ernakulam Thrisur Palakkad Malappuram Kozhikkode Wayanad Kannur Kasargode Total

54 65 28 66 51 51 78 75 75 52 63 26 79 39

802

1506 1940

727 3373 1074 6565 3139

794 1315

337 1146 1073 2860 1743

27592

18709 13886 16300 45811 11720 68331 29368 12383 12065

3120 12291 15662 24835 13432

297913

508.53 380.58

2055.35 1951.10

540.90 2794.95 2541.00

599.19 801.57 552.12 520.89

1445.97 1012.00

429.51 16133.66

Source: Compiled from the Monthly Status Report of Kerala State Poverty Eradication


The Ashraya Project -Destitute Identification, Rehabilitation and Monitoring

Project

The programme of identification and rehabilitation of the destitutes and its

frequent monitoring is an extension of the poverty eradication mission of

Kudumbashree through Community Based Organisations of the poor. It is a novel

project formulated and implemented by Kudumbashree Mission with the support

of the State and the Central Governments for the rehabilitation of destitute

families. The destitute that are the poorest of the poor live at the margins of the

economy, society, and polity and they do not have ‘voice’ or the power of ‘choice’.

They face the worst forms of deprivation and lack of access to the minimum

services. They are exposed to all forms of vulnerability and do not have any safety

net against risk. Their income is below subsistence and they are dependent on

others. They lack capabilities and are neither aware of their entitlements nor can

they get access to them. Using the risk indices framed by the Mission to identify

the destitutes,50 the Ashraya project aims at uplifting such poorest section of the

society from their destitution. It follows the principle of empowerment of the

poorest of the poor. The project envisaged to address the various deprivations

90

faced by the destitute families such as lack of food, health problems, pensions,

educational facilities to children, land for home, shelter and shelter upgradation,

drinking water, safe sanitation facilities, skill development, employment

opportunities etc51. The project was launched during 2002—03 on a pilot basis in

101 grama panchayats. The Central Government has released an amount of

Rs.15.50 crores to Kudumbashree for destitute rehabilitation and tracking

programme and IT enabled services to the poor up to 31st March 2004. The State

Government also provided a budget support amounting to Rs.5 crores during the

period towards the project. The phase-wise coverage of Ashraya project is shown

in Table.3.16

Table 3.16 : Phase-wise coverage of Ashraya project

Phase Year Rural LSGIs

Covered

Urban LSGIs

Covered

Total LSGIs

Covered

Total No. of Families Identified

i ii iii iv

2002-03 2003-04 2004-05 2005-06

101 78 184 221

- - 5 11

101 78 189 232

8239 6551 13640 18489

Total 584 16 600 46919 Source: Compiled from the Monthly Status Report of Kerala State Poverty Eradication Mission,

Thiruvananthapuram

The project has been implemented in 584 grama panchayats and 16 Urban

Local Bodies until 2005-06 in a phased manner. In the first phase it was introduced

in 101 grama panchayts during 2002-03, in the second phase in 78 grama

panchayats during 2003-04, in the third phase in 184 grama panchayats and in 5

Urban Local bodies during 2004-05, and in the fourth phase in 221 grama

panchayats and in 11 Urban Local Bodies during 2005-06. It had identified 46919

destitute families for rehabilitation and projects worth Rs. 240.56 crores have been

prepared during the periods. The families identified were 8239, 6551, 13640, and

18489 during the 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th phase of the project respectively.

The Kudumbashree programme has been globally acclaimed through

various recognitions: ‘We the people’ Award-UN (1995), UNCHS-100 Best

Innovations (1998), CAPAM – International Innovations Gold Medal (2000),

CAPAM- Best 10 Innovations (2002), UN Habitat 2002 Practices Global 100 list

(2002), Dubai International Award- Finalist (2002), UNDP- One among the 15

91

best practices in India (2002) and India Innovation Award for the Social

Innovations (2006)

Kudumbashree –As a Decentralising Agency

Kudumbashree has played a responsible role in decentralization in Kerala,

ensuring participation in the grama sabhas, helping panchayats through meticulous

and rational selection of beneficiaries and by setting directions for the

decentralized process itself, leading it to hitherto unattended sectors of Kerala

Society. Kudumbashree taps 75 per cent of its resources from the funds of

decentralized LSGIs meant for women and the poor and targets it to the needy

through its NHGs that functions almost as voluntary, mini grama sabhas for

beneficiary selection. Kudumbashree has operationalised the idea of development

of a meaningful process of participatory planning for poverty reduction through

empowerment of the poor52. Preparation of anti-poverty sub-plan as per the

methodology developed by Kudumbashree is mandatory for all local governments.

The guidelines for the preparation of the eleventh five-year plan go even further in

carving out relevance for Kudumbashree in decentralized planning. Kudumbashree

is represented in all working groups and in certain working groups like APSP and

WCP; there is representation of more than one member from Kudumbashree in the

group.

Kudumbashree is perceived and accepted by local self-governments in

Kerala as a further step in the decentralization process. It has a unique opportunity

to project community interest in the decentralized planning and governance.

Community Development Society representation in the working groups on

women’s Component Plan and anti poverty sub plan is ensured through

decentralized planning guidelines. The anti-poverty sub-plans of the local self

government evolves from the planning process of Kudumbashree network. All

levels of the Kudumbashree community-based organisations are involved in the

preparation of anti-poverty sub plan at the Local Self Government level. Today the

CDS is seen by most Local Self Governments as a sub agency for the execution of

their women development and poverty alleviation programmes. Each

Neighbourhood Group prepares a development micro plan based on the needs of

the members as identified through surveys and discussions. These micro plans

92

formed at the neighbourhood group level will be integrated at the ADS level to

form a mini plan. The CDS prepares development plan at the local government

level by consolidating the plans prepared by the ADSs.This CDS plan becomes the

anti-poverty sub plan of the Village Panchayat or municipality, for which one-third

of the total development resources of the local government is set aside. The

spiraling process of planning from micro plan at NHG level, to mini plan at ADS

level, then into sub-plan at CDS level and integrating them in to the plan of the

LSGIs to eradicate poverty in a way which enables the women to actively involve

in the planning process as major stakeholders. The anti-poverty subplan

preparation under the Kudumbashree is given in chart 6.

Chart 6. Antipoverty sub plan preparation under the Kudumbashree CDS

system

Mic

ropl

an

NH

G 1

(War

d I)

Mic

ropl

an

NH

G 2

(War

d I)

Mic

ropl

an

NH

G 3

(War

d I)

Mic

ropl

an

NH

G 4

(War

d I)

Mic

ropl

an

NH

G 1

(War

d II

)

Mic

ropl

an

NH

G 2

(War

d II

)

Mic

ropl

an

NH

G 3

(War

d II

)

Mic

ropl

an

NH

G 4

(War

d II

)

Mic

ropl

an

NH

G 5

(War

d II

)

Mic

ropl

an

NH

G 1

(War

d II

I)

Mic

ropl

an

NH

G 2

(War

d II

I)

Mic

ropl

an

NH

G 3

(War

d II

I)

Mic

ropl

an

NH

G 4

(War

d II

I)

Mic

ropl

an

NH

G 1

(War

d IV

)

Mic

ropl

an

NH

G 2

(War

d IV

)

Mic

ropl

an

NH

G 3

(War

d IV

)

Mini Plan (Ward I)

Mini Plan (Ward II)

Mini Plan (Ward III)

Mini Plan (Ward IV)

CDS Plan (Antipoverty sub-plan)

93

The positive spin off effects of Kudumbashree

1. Awareness about various programmes and services has increased, resulting

in improved accessing of such programmes and services.

2. The outreach of various services of the Government has improved in scale

as well as effectiveness.

3. There has been a gradual but perceptible improvement in the confidence

levels of the poor so that they have begun articulating their demands. And

from ‘voice’ they go ahead and use the power of ‘choice’.

4. Group activities have led to greater cohesion serving as social safety in

times of crisis, reducing the feeling of vulnerability.

5. The habit of thrift has sunk in and considerable savings have been

generated resulting in the formation of informal banks of the poor. The

credit from these Thrift banks initially flows into consumption expenditure

and expenditure on emergencies. Later it helps in expanding existing

economic development activities and finally, albeit in a few number of

cases, it has promoted new micro enterprises by attracting bank credit

based on the strength of the savings.

6. The ‘freedoms’ have enlarged and the ‘capabilities’ have been enhanced in

small but significant degrees.

7. The participation rate of women from this set up in the Grama Sabhas is

significantly higher. The groups have shown a capacity for micro level

planning for development facilities. Gradually they are developing into

lobbies for the poor within panchayats and municipalities. In rare cases the

women groups have shown the potential for public action against social and

economic injustice.

Administration Set up of Kudumbashree Mission

The Government of Kerala acts as a proactive facilitator of the

Kudumbashree programme and the Mission is managed and controlled by a

governing body consisting of the Minister for Local Self Government as Chairman,

Secretary to Government, Local Self Government as Vice Chairman and Executive

Director, Kudumbashree as its Convener54. All policy matters connected with the

Mission are discussed and decided by the executive Committee. The Mission has

94

its headquarters at Vazhuthakadu, Thiruvananthapruram and one regional office

each for Northern, Central and Southern regions functioning at Kasargode,

Ernakulam and Thiruvananthapuram respectively. The Officers of the Mission

have been drawn from various government departments or corporations or other

government agencies, considering their experience, expertise and interest in

community development programmes and social welfare activities. The co-

ordination and control of Kudumbashree units at district level is vested with

District Mission Office, which has a District Mission Co-ordinator (DMC), two

Assistant District Mission co-ordinators (ADMCs) and Office Secretarial Staff to

work. The District offices are functioning in all the 14 districts of the State. The

Regional Directors for each region provide the necessary guidance to the District

Mission Team (DMT) in the districts concerned for implementing the programmes.

The programme officers (POs) coordinate the activities of the project at the head

office. The organisational structure of Kudumbashree is shown below in chart 7.

95

Chart 7. Organisational structure of Kudumbashree

Director (A & F)

Programme Officers

Rural Urban IT & Enterprises Agriculture

Administrative Officer Accounts Officer Public Relations Officer

Administration

Training Gender

Executive Director

District

LSG

State Mission

Office Secretarial Staff Computer Operators

Office Assistants

Support Staff

District Mission Coordinator (DMC) Assistant District Mission Coordinators (ADMC)

Consultants Office Secretarial Staff

District Mission Teams

Charge Officer/ Project Officer (Govt. Official) CDS team (CDS President)

Local Governments (Panchayat & Urban Bodies)

96

References

1 M.A. Aboobacker, A Small Steps Great Leaps Success Stories of

Kudumbashree Micro Enterprises, (1st Edition), State Poverty Eradication Mission,

Thiruvananthapuram, 2001.

2 P.O. Abraham, and P.Johnkutty, “A Study on the Economic Viability of

Kudumbashree in Kerala”, Review of Social Sciences, Vol.VII, No.2,

Thiruvananthapuram, July-December 2006 p79.

3 T.K.Jose. “Convergence of Basic Services for the Urban Poor: Experience

of Kudumbashree, Kerala” Paper presented in the Technical sessions, April 2006

http://www.nationalstrategyforurbanpoor.org.

4 A.K. Pat, “Kudumbashree A Poverty Eradication Mission in Kerala”,

Economic and Political Weekly, November26, 2005, pp 4989-4991.

5 Elias P.Peter, “Kudumbashree: A Torch of Prosperity for the Poor”,

www.kudumbasree.org.

6 Suneetha Kadiyala, “Scaling up Kudumbashree-Collective Action for

Poverty Alleviation and Women’s Empowerment”, Discussion Paper No.180,

Food Consumption and Nutrition Division, International Food Policy Research

Institute, Washington, May 2004.

7 Murali Nair, Ralf Brody and Antony Palackal, “Adisthana Vikasanathinu

Oru Kerala Mathruka-Ayalkoottaprasthanavum Cherukidasamrambangal-um”

(Mal) (First Edition): Southern Book Star Publishers, Thiruvananthapuram, August

2006.

8 T.M. Thomas Isaac, Budget speech 2007-08, Government of Kerala,

Thiruvananthapuram, 9th March 2007.

9 T.Paranjothi, K.Ravichandran, and V.N. Babu, “Empowerment of Women

and Reducing Gender Discrimination through Kudumbashree Programme”

Http://www.istr.org/conferences/cd/pdf/abstracts.

97

10 Manoj Edward, and K.A.Zakkariya., “Relevance of Social Marketing in

Kudumbashree” paper presented at the International Marketing Conference on

Marketing & Society, 8-10 April, 2007.

11 http://www.Kerala.gov.in/dept_Panchayat/index.htm.

12 “Kudumbashree- Concept, Organisation and Activities,” http://www.

localgovkerala.net.

13 Nidheesh K.B, “Kudumbahree in Kerala is Jeopardize or Conducive?”

paper presented in the 1st international seminar on microfinance organisd by

Pondichery University, Pondichery, 1st October 2007.

14 Government of India, “Successful Government Initiatives and Best

Practices Experiences from India states” paper jointly prepared by Planning

Commission and Human Development Resource Centre, New Delhi, October 17,

2002.

15 http://www.ewh.ieee.org/r10/Kerala/April_June_2004.htm.

16 Rathi Menon, LP Chither, and ThulasiDas Kakkat, “A Silent Revolution

Kudumbashree”, Kerala Poverty Eradication Model, Thiruvananthapuram, 2006.

17 D.Ajit, R.Sunil and K.Ravi Raman, “ Micro-Credit and Repayment

Rates: A Case Study of Kudumbashree Micro-Enterprise Programme In Kerala-

2006”, http://www.igidr.ac.in/~money/D%20Ajt_submission_60.pdf.

18 Kudumbashree – Enth? Enthine?(Mal.), Kudumbashree Mission, Kollam.

19 “Kudumbashree- Concept, Organisation and Activities”, http: //www.

localgovkerala.net.

20 V.P.Raghavan, “Livelihoods And Empowerment: The Kudumbashree

Projects in Kerala, India-A New Paradigm of Participatory Economy” paper

presented at the 13th Conference of the International Association for the Economics

of Participation, At Mondragon University,13-15 July 2006.

21 Ibid.

http://www.igidr.ac.in/%7Emoney/D%20Ajt_submission_60.pdf

98

22 Government of India, “Successful Government Initiatives and Best

Practices Experiences from India states” paper jointly prepared by Planning

Commission and Human Development Resource Centre, New Delhi, October 17,

2002.

23 N.Vijayamohanan Pillai, and Sabina Alkire, India. “Measuring

Individual Agency Or Empowerment: A Study In Kerala”, Centre for Development

Studies, Thiruvananthpuram.

24 “Kudumbashree”, http://Kollam.nic.in/Kudum.html.

25 Government of West Bengal, “Strengthening State Plans for Human

Development”, Training of Trainers workshop on Human Development, sponsored

by Planning Commission, Jan. 15-19th 2007.

26 Government of Kerala, 51st Meeting of the national Development

Council, Mid Term Appraisal of the Tenth Five year Plan, New Delhi, 27th –28th

June 2005, http://planningcommission.nic.in.

27 P.P.Balan, Decentralised Governance and Poverty Reduction Lessons

from Kerala, Kerala Institute of Local Administration (KILA), Thrissur, April

2006.

28 Nidheesh K.B, “Kudumbahree in Kerala is Jeopardize or Conducive?”,

paper presented in the 1st international seminar on microfinance organisd by


29 http://ifmr.ac.in/cmf/wp-content/uploads/2007/02/Ravindran Low_

Income_ Housing_for_the_Poor-(pres).pdf

30 N.Vijayamohanan Pillai, and Sabina Alkire, India. “Measuring

Individual Agency Or Empowerment: A Study In Kerala”, Centre for Development

Studies, Thiruvananthpuram

31 Ibid.

http://planning/

http://ifmr.ac.in/cmf/wp-content/uploads/2007/02/Ravindran

99

32 Government of Kerala, “Kudumbashree Project”, State Poverty

Eradication Mission, Local Self Government Department, Annual Report 2002-

2003http://www.kudumbashree.org.

33 Kochurani Joseph, “Women Empowerment A Conceptual Analysis”,

Vimala Books &Publications, Kanjirappally, Nov.2005.


from Kerla, Kerala Institute of Local Administration (KILA), Thrissur, April 2006.


Vimala Books &Publications, Kanjirappally,Nov.2005.


from Kerla, Kerala Institute of Local Administration (KILA), Thrissur, April 2006.

37 Nidheesh K.B, “Kudumbashree in Kerala is Jeopardize or Conducive?”,

paper presented in the 1st international seminar on microfinance organised by



Vimala Books &Publications, Kanjirappally, Nov.2005.

39 V.P.Raghavan, “Social Action, Gender Equity and Empowerment: The

Case of Kudumbashree Projects Kerala” http://www.igidr.ac.in.

40 M.A.Oommen, “ Kudumbashree of Kerala An Appraisal” Report,

Institute of Social Sciences,p18,December 2007, http://www. Kudumbashree.org.

41 D.Ajit, R.Sunil and K.Ravi Raman, “ Micro-Credit And Repayment

Rates: A Case Study Of Kudumbashree Micro-Enterprise Programme In Kerala-

2006”, http://www.igidr.ac.in.

42 Ibid.

43 Kudumbashree”, http://www.kudumbashree.org.

44 Annexure, “Kudumbashree-Empowering Women To Fight Poverty’’,

http://www.keralaplanningboard.org.

100

45 Government of Kerala, Economic Review, State Planning Board,

Thiruvananthapuram2006.

46 Micro Enterprise Development http://www.kudumba shree.org/Micro%

20 enterprise/project overview.htm.

47 Government of Kerala & Kudumbashree “Micro Enterprises

Development For Youth From Socially Disadvantage Groups(SC Department),

Project Proposal”, State Poverty Eradication Mission, Thiruvananthapuram

http://www. Kudumbashree.org/ Initiatives/ Projects/SC-Tribal-Youth-Project.pdf

48 “Urban CDS In Kerala-An Innovative Community Based Women

Oriented Initiative to Fight Poverty”, http:// www.sjsry. Kudumbashree. org/

Publication/Urban.doc

49 Government of Kerala, Kudumbashree Project, Annual Report, State

Poverty Eradication Mission, Local Self Government Department, 2002-2003

http://www.kudumbashree.org.

50 Sherjin Franklin, “Kudumbashree”, http:// www.kudumba shree.org

/MISE_ 2005/SDC-Art/nr.doc.

51 Ibid.

52 Government of Kerala, 51st Meeting of the national Development

Council, Mid Term Appraisal of the Tenth Five year Plan, New Delhi, 27th –28th

June2005, http:// planning commission.nic.

53 Sarada Muraleedharan, “Role of Women Elevated-Decentralisation and

Kudumbashree” Kerala Calling, Thiruvananthapuram, September 2007, p23

54 Community Mobilisation (Draft), http: www. Kudumbashree. org.

http://www/

http://www.sjsry/

http://www.kudumba/

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